Ford ditches Microsoft

The former maker of the Model T, Ford has decided that Microsoft is too expensive and is going to shove Blackberry tech under the bonnet of its cars.

Using the QNX operating system will be less expensive for Ford than licensing Microsoft technology and will improve the flexibility and speed of the next Sync system, the company claims.

According to the Seattle Times, Ford has had few problems with in-car technology flaws, and has decided to base the next-generation Sync system on BlackBerry’s QNX and no longer use Microsoft’s Windows.

QNX is cheaper, more flexibile and faster when used with Ford’s Sync system. Ford has more than 7 million vehicles on the road with Sync using Microsoft voice-activated software to make mobile-phone calls and play music.

For BlackBerry, it is a vote of support for a company that lost 95 percent of its value from mid-2008 to November and saw the collapse of a proposed $4.7 billion buyout.

Curiously, Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally was said to be a candidate to become Microsoft’s chief until early this year. Obviously the fact he did not think that Vole’s software was much cop for his cars might have made him wonder if moving to Redmond was such a good idea.